The "Decapitation Unit"

     I thought I would give this blog the title of the military unit that was supposedly created recently by South Korea to eliminate North Korean leadership in case of war.  As one reporter stated, South Korea's "Decapitation Unit" is not some sort of a new guillotine, but rather a nick-name given to a special commando unit created to carry out a very special mission - that of assassinating North Korean leadership in time of war.  This news, incidentally, popped-up at the same time that networks were reporting North Korean missile testing, and our own news over Russian hacking which has dominated the headlines.  Naturally, with all the coverage on Russian hacking, topped off with the horrible domestic terrorism case of mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport in Florida yesterday, all of the stuff on the problems in Korea quickly faded.
     The information about North Korean missiles has been, if anything, uneven.  Some experts claim that North Korea has yet to develop successful ICBMs that can reach our shores.  Others insist that they already have the capability but are purposely being mum about it.  I am sure that truth lies somewhere in-between and I would rather err on the side of caution and think that they do have the capability to reach our shores.  Perhaps they are not able to do this consistently, and are working on developing a more consistent and reliable system.  But nevertheless, I wouldn't wave it off and most certainly consider them very dangerous and capable of launching missiles at our West Coast.
     Right now is a very dangerous time for South Korea and U.S.  As many have already stated, we cannot count on China to intervene or stop North Korea from doing what it wants to do, develop nuclear weapons or launch an attack.  China is too busy making money off North Korea to whom China is its only major trading partner.  At the same time, they do not want a unified Korea at their border which will be U.S. friendly. 
     There is no doubt that should unification take place, South Korea and its economy and political system will dominate and the pro-Chinese North Korean system will fade away, just as it happened in Germany.  In short, a unified Korea would be a U.S. friendly democratic country, not a communist state!  The Chinese know this, so the idea of trying to convince them to keep North Korea from making nuclear weapons is not realistic.  Just as we want South Korea to be a deterrent in the region to China and Russia, China wants North Korea to remain in their corner by being a deterrent with nuclear weapons!
     Almost 50 years ago, in January of 1968, North Korea launched an attack on the South Korean Presidential Palace, the Blue House.  This attack was not something that was done on the spur of the moment or caused by an angry outburst from Kim Il Song or his unstable son, Kim Jong Il.  It was in planning stages for a long time!  North Korea was waiting for an opportune moment to strike what they felt was a surgical, quick blow to South Korea that would collapse the regime.  They believed that if they succeeded in killing the South Korean President Park, it would bring down the country.  It was a coordinated effort with North Vietnam and China, who of course supported both countries! 
     South Korea was going through some difficult times in the late 1960s.  President Park Chung Hee had committed troops to Vietnam in support of U.S. effort since 1964.  South Korea, aside from the South Vietnamese, had the largest military force after U.S.  South Korea maintained about 50,000 combat troops in Vietnam from 1964 until 1972.  There was a lot of unrest and unhappiness with the Park regime in South Korea, so much so that he even established a curfew to discourage meetings that might bring about further unrest.  On the U.S. side, the anti-Vietnam War movement in America had reached its peak and our commitment of troops and equipment was at its peak as well.  North Korean leadership felt that with all the attention on Vietnam, U.S. wouldn't be able to do much in Korea, and South Korea was in the midst of economic crisis with a very unpopular president.
     After lengthy training on a carefully prepared exact mock-up of the South Korean Blue House, a special unit of 31 North Korean commandos, Unit 124, was dispatched to South Korea.  They crossed the DMZ, infiltrating through the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division positions and made their way to Seoul.  On January 21st 1968, the same day that the Battle of Khe Sanh began in Vietnam and ten days before the Tet Offensive launched, the Unit 124 struck the grounds of the Blue House.  After a somewhat protracted and bloody firefight that stretched for many miles, the attack was repelled with no harm to the president or any staff members.  However, 26 South Korean soldiers and policemen were killed as well as 4 U.S. servicemen.  There were also 66 wounded military and police personnel and 24 civilian (bystander) casualties.  Of the 31 North Koreans, 29 were killed, one captured, and one managed to escape and make it back to North Korea where he was feted as a national hero despite the failed mission. 
     In response to that incident, South Korea immediately launched a program to recruit and train special troops for a similar mission in North Korea, and it was nick-named "Decapitation Unit."  So, the current talk about a "newly" created unit and how it wasn't supposed to be ready until years from now is not true!  South Korea has had a special unit since that North Korean raid.  I suppose that South Korean government didn't want their enemy to know that they had such a unit.  But then, there were several movies and TV dramas made about the "Special Unit" through the years, so it is doubtful that the North Koreans didn't know about it.  I believe that the recent announcement by South Korea about the existence of the "Decapitation Unit" was simply a warning to North Korea.  It is a warning that if North Koreans try something like they did back in 1968, South Korea would respond in kind.  Recently, North Korea has been showing TV footage of their "special unit" practicing assault on mock Blue House that they built, an exact replica!
     As I said earlier, now is a very dangerous time for South Korea and U.S. on that peninsula.  The South Korean President Park is currently undergoing impeachment hearings and the country appears to be on shaky political grounds.  The U.S. may not be involved in a war in Vietnam, but we do have several nasty little wars going on in the Middle East and more importantly, we have just undergone a presidential election with a contentious aftermath among our politicians.  It doesn't help that even some members of the general population are still carrying on about the election results. To an outsider, especially for someone from a closed society like North Korea, unfamiliar with our psyche and our somewhat bi-polar attitude about politics, America may seem to appear on the verge of collapse.  So to them, this is a perfect time to carry out some sort of strike against South Korea or even the U.S.
     I guess we are not the only ones that can't seem to learn from history.  But 49 years is a long time and I seriously doubt that many folks here can recall (except for those who served in the military during that period) the North Korean Raid on the Blue House, or for that matter, the Siege of Khe Sahn and the Tet Offensive that same year, 1968.  The current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is barely 30 years old, was not even a gleam in his crazy father's eye in 1968!  North Korea seems to feel it is prime time for some nefarious activity.  They have already demonstrated this by expediting missile testing and other unfriendly activity towards South Korea. 
     I have said many times that we seem to have a difficult time understanding the thought process and general mentality of others.  Well, it works both ways.  We know that in a democratic system, despite all sorts of problems such as impeachment hearings and what have you, it is very unlikely that the government will fall if it has a firm foundation.  South Korea has a firm foundation, so despite all of its presidential scandals, impeachment and all, it will not collapse!  America will not fall apart because we have all these disagreements and nasty squabbling in the aftermath of the elections.  History has shown that we are very resilient and are capable of withstanding political scandals and other problems that may very well bring down lesser systems.  The North Koreans, as well as Russians, don't seem to be able to grasp that.  Like everyone else, they too judge everyone by their own standards. They know that their system could not withstand the same problems, as Russia has experienced it recently!  So, they believe we too would collapse if faced with same problems.  They are as much at fault at not understanding, comprehending the psyche, the mentality of others as we are!